1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to electrical connectors and more particularly to cable connectors.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
FIG. 1 shows the current method of making a charger cable connector. This prior art charger cable connector kit includes a top cover 10, a bottom cover 12, a V-90 male connector 14, a paddle board 16 and a cable 18. It also includes lateral latches 20 and 22 and buttons 24 and 26. To achieve the strain relief, a flexible grommet is molded onto the cable.
To grip the grommet, a two piece cover is used, that is closed around the grommet, and secured by screwing or riveting the two covers together, trapping the grommet, the terminal block, and the cable connector metal latches.
When the cable is pulled, the force is transmitted from the copper wires, through the insulation, to the grommet. The grommet then transmits the force to the cover body. The cover body transmits the force to the metal latches, which transmit the force to the body of the mating connector which, for this connector, is located in the case of a mobile telephone. This procedure avoids a situation in which force is transmitted to either the solder joints or the contacts.
The grommet does not prevent all forces from being transmitted to the solder joints or contacts particularly when the cable is flexed. Sometimes, however, a paddle board is used to further relieve the forces which will be transmitted to an individual contact to spread the forces over a larger number of electrically non-functional contacts.
The paddle board is used particularly with miniature connectors, where the strength and retention of the contact in the housing is small compared to the forces which can be applied to the cable in the use of such a product.
Disadvantages of the above described apparatus are as follows.
The number of components used means a high investment in tooling, a high material cost, and a labor intensive assembly process.
For a cable type B to work effectively, the adhesion between the copper wires and the insulation, and the insulation and the jacket, must be extremely high. Otherwise, when the cable is pulled, the insulation and jacket will stretch, and the force will be conducted via the copper wires direct to the solder joints and contacts, resulting in either a broken solder joint, or a displaced contact or paddle board, if used.
If, however, the cable is made with very high insulation and jacket adhesion, it becomes very difficult to strip during the assembly process, and becomes less flexible, making it less user friendly for the end user.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cable connector which avoids the above described disadvantages.